SynthesisAnnals of behavioral medicine : a publication of the Society of Behavioral Medicine2014
The impact of incentives on exercise behavior: a systematic review of randomized controlled trials.
Synthesis in Annals of behavioral medicine : a publication of the Society of Behavioral Medicine, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 58 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
58 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Enhancing Weight Loss Programs: A Meta-Analysis of Financial Incentives and Behavior Change Techniques.Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity · 2026Pooled it
- The impact of financial incentives on physical activity for employees in the context of workplace health promotion: a systematic review.Journal of occupational health · 2024Pooled it
- Use and effectiveness of behavioural economics in interventions for lifestyle risk factors of non-communicable diseases: a systematic review with policy implications.Perspectives in public health · 2018Pooled it
- Food Allergy Management for Adolescents Using Behavioral Incentives: A Randomized Trial.Pediatrics · 2023Trial
- Small sustainable monetary donation-based incentives to promote physical activity: A randomized controlled trial.Health psychology : official journal of the Division of Health Psychology, American Psychological Association · 2020Trial
- Trial
- Association between time preference, present-bias and physical activity: implications for designing behavior change interventions.BMC public health · 2018Trial
- Trial
- Trial
- Trial
- Impact of Small Monetary Incentives on Exercise in University Students.American journal of health behavior · 2015Trial
- Why Do Humans Exercise? A Neuro-Evolutionary Framework for Discretionary Physical Effort.Evolutionary anthropology · 2026Review
- A multicomponent behavior change intervention to promote walking in adults after traumatic brain injury: A Pilot Randomized Control Trial.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2026Article
- Article
- Designing and Implementing a Metaverse Strategy for Fall Prevention in Older Adults: A Theoretical Review.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Review
- Evaluating the social acceptability of the Re-Connect concept: A smartphone-based, nonfinancial, contingency management intervention.Journal of applied behavior analysis · 2025Article
- Testing an insurance-based monetary incentive program for exercise: RCT design and rationale.Contemporary clinical trials · 2023Article
- Modeling personalized heart rate response to exercise and environmental factors with wearables data.NPJ digital medicine · 2023Article
- Exploring the link between home garden use and severe obesity: Insights from a nationwide survey in Tuvalu.Journal of global health · 2023Article
- The Development of a Hypertension Prevention and Financial-Incentive mHealth Program Using a "No-Code" Mobile App Builder: Development and Usability Study.JMIR formative research · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThe effectiveness of reinforcing exercise behavior with material incentives is unclear. PURPOSE: This study aims to conduct a systematic review of existing research on material incentives for exercise, organized by incentive strategy.
methodsTen studies conducted between January 1965 and June 2013 assessed the impact of incentivizing exercise compared to a non-incentivized control.
resultsThere was significant heterogeneity between studies regarding reinforcement procedures and outcomes. Incentives tended to improve behavior during the intervention while findings were mixed regarding sustained behavior after incentives were removed.
conclusionsThe most effective incentive procedure is unclear given the limitations of existing research. The effectiveness of various incentive procedures in promoting initial behavior change and habit formation, as well as the use of sustainable incentive procedures should be explored in future research.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.